August 15, 2007

Josh Green didn't even say good bye.

It's interesting, not a single article in any media about Josh Green's decision to sign in Austria. However, according to Cory Brolund from the "2007 NHL Free Agents" site, Green has signed in Salzburg, AUS. I never understood why the Vancouver Canucks didn't even try to give him a decent offer to keep him on the team.

Josh Green is a reasonably unknown hockey player. He got 2 goals and 5 assists in 57 games this season. What is interesting is that Josh Green was the NHL's best penalty killer (based on GA/Hr). Typically players will get about 6 goals against per hour, Josh Green had 5 goals against in 2 and a half hours (2GA/Hr). 2 of those 5 goals happened on 5 on 3's, meaning Josh Green had only 3 goals go in on him with 5 skaters to 4. Most players don't do as well at 5 on 5 as Josh Green did on the penalty kill. At even strength he allowed 13 goals against in 8 hours (1.6GA/Hr), which is significantly better then the average 2.4GA/hr. Of course Green had the support of Luongo, but even including that factor what Green did for Vancouver was remarkable. Had Green been nominated for best defensive forward for his accomplishments he certainly would not have disappeared to Europe in the off season.

Josh Green has 74 points in 322 games played and has averaged about 40 games played per season on many different teams. His contributions are obviously defensive, because teams wouldn't play him if his only contribution was his limited offense.

I'm curious how his loss will impact the Canuck's penalty kill, the 25 games he didn't play this season he was certainly missed.

He can still sign in North America if he wants, but there appear to be few takers.

Quite the year for Josh Green then, albeit a very quiet one thanks to the limited fanfare (and oknowledge) when it comes to these sorts of results.

I remember him as a Calgary Flame. He had a lot of physical assets and always seemed to be on the verge of becoming a top 6 contributor. As such, it may be skewed expectations of offensive prowess that have subsequently hobbled his NHL career.